When Christians meet for the first time, the question most often asked is “where do you go to church?” I dread that question more than any other because the people who ask are usually shocked by my uncommon answer.

Since the time of Christ, the question has been asked in many ways. There was the woman at the well who asked Jesus about worship on Jacob’s mountain or in Jerusalem. His reply made it clear that where we worship is no longer relevant, but who and how we worship (John 4:21-23). On another occasion, the disciples stopped a man from working miracles because he was not a member of their church. Clearly angered, Jesus said “don’t stop him – if he’s not an enemy, he’s an ally” (Mark 9:38-40).

My mother went to be with Jesus in 2003. Following her stroke in 1999, dad devoted his life to mom’s full time care. House and yard work they once did together and the projects they’d started, went undone as Dad saw to all of Mom’s care needs. Daily he washed, clothed and fed her, lifting her several dozen times each day and night, from bedroom to bathroom, wheelchair to recliner, in and out of the car.

Rather than accept isolation, dad began taking mom out to an early supper several times a week, which was no small effort on his part. Restaurants provided them with fellowship, which was a healing balm for mom’s spirit and helped to keep her vital. However many times the wait staff came to the table, she greeted them with a cheerful “oh, Hi!” and one-armed hug. They remained with mom as long as it took for her to order, which in itself was an act of love and patience since the stroke left mom unable to speak but for a few nonsensical words. The kitchen staff even helped to care for mom, by cutting up her food, customizing meals and even came out to greet her, where more hugs were given and received.

Among the things that grieve me as a believer is how seldom people question whether church practices are Biblical. For example, most churches refer to Sunday service as a “worship service” and teach that “worship means singing” hymns and choruses. Rarely have I seen the idea challenged; believers simply accept the modern worship model as handed down from our forefathers as Biblical and correct.

For the sake of examining “worship services” I’d like to lay a Biblical foundation for discussion.

• In the Old Testament, the temple was a stone building in Jerusalem. In the New Testament, the temple is us (1 Cor. 3:16, 6:19, 1 Pet. 2:5).
• In the old, the priests were the sons of Levi and Aaron. In the new, the priesthood is us (1 Pet. 2:5, :9, Rev. 1:6, 5:10, 20:6).
• In the old, the Spirit did not indwell the people, He abode in the Holy of Holies in the Temple in Jerusalem. In the new, the Holy Spirit abides in us (Jo. 20:22, Ac. 2:4)

Thus from the old to the new, the temple, the priesthood, and dwelling place of God all changed. Accordingly, worship changed, too.

Jesus said to the woman at the well: “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”

Water was drawn not only for drinking, but for the ritual washings of those who kept the law of Moses. Washing with water prepared the priests for temple duties and to enter the tent of meeting. It was a symbolic act that provided temporary cleansing only.

With the coming of the Holy Spirit to indwell all believers, there is no longer a need to wash with water. Instead, the Holy Spirit is a fount of “living water” flowing from within every believer to satisfy spiritual thirst and cleanse us from within. Thus the external act of washing with water, which was never able to clean the hearts of men is replaced by the internal act of washing by the Spirit.

In fact, the 6 stone water jars Jesus turned into wine at the wedding in Cana of Galilee, were for washing and purification. By turning the water into wine, Jesus first miracle symbolically marked the end of externalized rituals and the advent of being cleansed from within by the new wine of the Spirit.

Leaving religious Babylon, or man’s church if you will, was difficult on many levels. The stories I share may give the impression that I left because I was hurt or bitter, but the truth is, I was deeply devoted to “the church” because that’s where I was when Jesus revealed himself to me. Admittedly leaving was more difficult for me because I was a performing song-writer and the church was my defacto concert venue. A weekend concert ministry once took me into churches all over the Puget Sound region. My home church on the other hand had no interest in me except as an occasional guitar player in the praise band. Like the prophets, performing musicians are also without honor in their home town (John 4:44). That’s what I concluded anyway. There is one funny experience that stands out in my memory as the epitome of my musical frustrations with my old home church.

The pastor was planning to deliver a sermon about the difference between Jesus, King of Heaven and Elvis, King of the World. It was a funny message, contrasting Jesus humility and truth with Elvis glitz and commercialism. To introduce the sermon, the pastor asked the praise band to play a few bars of an Elvis tune. We chose “Can’t Help Falling In Love” and one by one each of us sang a few lines to audition for the part of Elvis.

When brothers separate themselves from one another, a difference in doctrinal belief(s) is often cited as the reason. It is unfortunate when on occasion someone haphazardly refers to such difference as preaching “another gospel”. The word “gospel” means “Good News!” and was first announced by the angels, the night Jesus was born. They proclaimed:

“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:10-11 ESV)

Christ the Lord, our Savior is the gospel. He alone is The Way, The Truth, The Life and the only name under heaven by which we may be saved.

“Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” (Ephesians 5:14 ESV)

The early morning contemporary service opened with welcome and announcements, followed by 3 or 4 songs led by a small band with piano, acoustic guitar and bass. That particular Sunday found Karen and I sitting among the congregation while another of the rotating worship bands led the singing. It’s an attractive and well kept sanctuary with beautiful stained glass windows to the north and south, curved ceiling with oak beams and woodwork.

Like most believers, I viewed “my church” with “rose colored” glasses, that is until God ambushed me with a single question, asked at 3 different times during the service.

“My son, what do you see”, asked God.

“I see a pipe organ, Lord.”

God replied: “That’s right, this church worships a pipe organ.”

His answer shocked me out of my stupor and left me cross-eyed, as if I’d just been hit across the forehead with a spiritual 4×4. “What do you mean they worship a pipe organ”, I protested.

It seems to me cessationism is for those who like me were fearful of receiving the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts or who asked God but never received them. Adherents comforted themselves by adopting the doctrine to explain their lack – a false doctrine that’s rooted in nullification of God’s Word. The appeal of cessationism is that it’s easier than contending with God until He grants your request for more of His Holy Spirit and gifts.

Biblically, the doctrine is rooted in a poor interpretation of the passage “when perfection comes” which holds the Bible itself to be the “perfection” Paul was writing about; found in 1 Corinthians 13:10. Adherents consider tongues and all the other spiritual gifts to have “passed away” when the Bible was completed. Whether “completed” refers to the date the last book was finished or to one of the various canonized versions of the Bible, I’m not sure. Regardless, adherents generally believe spiritual gifts passed away between 1600-1900 years ago. Naturally that puts cessationism at odds with countless living believers who have received the Holy Spirit and practice using spiritual gifts. That leaves them with just 2 choices concerning those who speak in tongues today: admit their doctrine is in error, or persecute them. Sadly, in my experience they have always done the latter and typically with great zeal. If only they realized they are in fact persecuting (and grieving) the Holy Spirit by assailing believers who speak in tongues by the power of the Holy Spirit who dwells within them.

If as I have, you’re wondering why you’ve never heard the gift of tongues in your church, it’s likely that your church isn’t welcoming of the Holy Spirit. That’s the very picture of the Laodicean church in Revelation 3 who by refusing the Holy Spirit shut the door on Jesus who sent Him to us (Revelation 3:20). In simple terms, Laodicean churches are non-charismatic, which is an evasive way of saying that they exclude the Holy Spirit from their services. By definition, when a church self identifies as non-charismatic it means that the manifestations of the Holy Spirit are unwelcome in their services. And since Jesus comes to us through the Holy Spirit, He is shut out of churches that do not welcome the Holy Spirit.

Yet even in Laodicean churches, I’ve met pastors with the gift of tongues, but whose congregations forbade them to use or even mention it. Doubtful they ripped the book of Acts and Paul’s letters out of their pew Bibles, rather, they simply asked their pastors not to preach from the passages that make them uncomfortable. After all, who doesn’t like the love chapter in 1 Corinthians 13? It’s 1 Corinthians 12 and 14 where people get all worked up.

Three times the Lord said “Open wide your mouth and I will fill it” (Psalm 81:10) and each time I responded with fear. When I opened my mouth to give voice to my ignorance for the 3rd time, the Holy Spirit washed over and through me in what felt like a flood of warm pure love. At the same time, it felt as if His hand took hold of my tongue and stretched it out until something hard and lifeless broke off from the end of it and I began speaking in a new language I’d never heard before. Overcome with emotion, tears of joy ran down my face as the words which could only have been highest praise for almighty God rushed from my tongue. For several hours I didn’t speak another word of English except to confess “I can’t believe I ever feared You”.